1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a mounting structure for boosters which allows a booster and a master cylinder to be easily installed in a vehicle and a booster assembly for vehicles having the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a booster assembly for vehicles is a device generating high hydraulic pressure at small force using a pressure difference between suction pressure of a vehicle engine and atmospheric pressure, and includes a booster 10 generating large force at small force and a master cylinder 20 converting the force generated from the booster 10 into hydraulic pressure, as shown in FIG. 1.
When the booster 10 and the master cylinder 20 are installed in a vehicle, the booster 10 and the master cylinder 20 are generally mounted on a dashboard 1 dividing an engine room and a driver's seat of the vehicle from each other. As shown in FIG. 1, the booster 10 and the master cylinder 20 are located in the engine room, and an input shaft 13 of the booster 10 operating in connection with a brake pedal 2 passes through the dashboard 1, enters the driver's seat and is connected to the brake pedal 2.
Such a booster assembly may be easily installed by connecting a through bolt 33 passing through the dashboard 1 in a direction from the engine room to the driver's seat to a nut 4 fixed in advance to the pedal bracket 3. Hereinafter, a connection structure between the booster 10 and the master cylinder 20 via the through bolt 33 will be described with reference to FIG. 2.
Installation of the booster 10 and the master cylinder 20 using the through bolt 33 is to solve inconvenience of fastening a rear bolt (not shown) passing through the dashboard 1 to the driver's seat by a nut if the booster 10 is conventionally mounted on the dashboard 1.
A hollow tube 31 is provided within the booster 10, and a front bolt 32 to mount the master cylinder 20 and to support the tube 31 is caulked with a front cell 11 and is connected to the front portion of the tube 31. The rear portion of the tube 31 passes through a rear cell 12.
The master cylinder 20 is provided with a flange part 22 extending outwardly, and is fixed to the booster 10 by inserting the front bolt 32 into the flange part 22 and screw-connecting a nut 34 to the front bolt 32.
The through bolt 33 passes through the front bolt 32, the tube 31 and the dashboard 1, and is connected to the nut 4 (with reference to FIG. 1) fixed to the pedal bracket 3.
The tube 31 is inserted into the inner diameter of the front bolt 32 to maintain airtightness with the booster 10, and is caulked so as to be firmly fixed through a ring-shaped member 35. Here, a structure of caulking the tube 31 to the front bolt 32 using the ring-shaped member 35 is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,327.
As described above, the booster 10 and the master cylinder 20 are assembled using the through bolt 33, and thus ease of assembly may be obtained. However, in the structure of fixing the tube 31 to the front bolt 32, the tube 31 and the front bolt 32 are caulked with the separate ring-shaped member 35, and thus operation is difficult and a process needs to be added in case of in-house manufacturing.
Further, the tube 31 needs to be installed on the front cell 11 in case of outsourcing manufacturing, and the tube 31 increases the volume of the front cell 11, thereby increasing logistics and transportation costs.